Singtel laid out an updated environmental strategy at its first sustainability forum, detailing plans to speed up its transition to renewable energy and electrify its Singapore vehicle fleet.

Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon (pictured) declared in his keynote: “There is no time to waste if we want to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis,” adding this is reason it is pushing ahead with more aggressive Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) commitments.

The operator said it is working to boost renewable energy usage across Singapore and Australia to 50 per cent by 2030, securing renewable sources for about 20 per cent of its operational energy needs in the two countries from 2025 to 2029.

In 2023, it generated more than 2,100MWh of power using solar panels across its facilities in Singapore.

After a trial in 2022, Singtel is moving to convert its fleet of more than 150 vehicles in Singapore to electric by 2028.

To reduce waste the operator introduced e-SIM for some customer segments, with plans expand to others, and stopped giving out complimentary bags at its shops. It also is working with partners to reduce the use of packaging materials.

In early January, the company detailed aims to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) across the group by 55 per cent, and third-party emissions (Scope 3) by 40 per cent by 2030, using 2023 as the base year. It pushed forward a previous target for achieving net-zero emissions from 2050 to 2045.